Tech
Daily Crunch: London-based spatial computing startup Hadean closes $30 million Series A
To get a roundup of TechCrunch’s biggest and most important stories delivered to your inbox every day at 3 p.m. PDT, subscribe here. It’s Friday, and that means… Actually, we don’t even really know what that means anymore, other than that we’re going to sit in the sunshine and bask in the very last few … Read more
NASA’s Artemis I launch faces a new obstacle: the weather
NASA’s SLS on the pad on September 3rd, 2022 | Photo by Joe Burbank / Orlando Sentinel / Tribune News Service via Getty Images I’ve got good news and bad news for fans of big NASA space launches. The good news is that after repeated delays and a nail-biting test of a leaky fuel system, … Read more
I used OpenAI’s new tech to transcribe audio right on my laptop
The benefits of AI without the drawbacks of the cloud. | Kristen Radtke / The Verge; Getty Images OpenAI, the company behind image-generation and meme-spawning program DALL-E and the powerful text autocomplete engine GPT-3, has launched a new, open-source neural network meant to transcribe audio into written text (via TechCrunch). It’s called Whisper, and the … Read more
The US wants to become a hydrogen production powerhouse
One of the world’s first plants for the production of green hydrogen in Wesseling, Germany, on July 2nd, 2021. | Photo by INA FASSBENDER/AFP via Getty Images Ramping up production of hydrogen fuel is now a high priority for the Biden administration as it tries to put an end to the fossil fuel pollution causing … Read more
Trombone Champ’s developer thinks more games need to go all in on comedy
The “NASTY!” message when you flub a note is inspired. | Image: Holy Wow Studios Trombone Champ has been the star of my timeline this week; I’m constantly running into absurd renditions of songs like “Take Me Out to the Ball Game.” But in a conversation with Dan Vecchitto, the founder of Trombone Champ developer … Read more
The ‘ideal runway’ is a myth, isn’t it?
When it comes to advice, tech loves standardization. Startups are often told that there are certain metrics to hit, deadlines to meet, timetables to measure themselves against. Examples abound: Here’s the ideal amount of money to raise at your Series A round; here’s how many employees you should have before hiring this executive; here’s what … Read more
Apple says old and new AirPods Pro ear tips are incompatible because of mesh density
The original AirPods Pro tips (left) have denser mesh than the new second-gen tips (right). | Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge In my review of the new second-generation AirPods Pro, I pointed out that the inner mesh / filter of the ear tips is slightly different than those belonging to the original earbuds. … Read more
Mighty Capital’s thesis is that the best product wins — even more so in a downturn
When founders are laying off staff and cutting costs to face the downturn, it may seem like odd timing to tell startups to take their product as seriously as ever. In a recession, do users really care about product experience? Yes, says Mighty Capital, whose portfolio includes companies such as Airbnb and Amplitude. The San … Read more
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Triller settles lawsuit with Timbaland and Swizz Beatz
Last month, Grammy-winning artists Timbaland and Swizz Beatz sued TikTok competitor Triller for $28 million. Triller acquired their livestream event series Verzuz last year, but the two musicians alleged that the social app had missed several large payments, prompting them to file a lawsuit. Now, Triller has settled with Timbaland and Swizz Beatz, but the … Read more
Instagram Stories under 60 seconds are no longer broken up into clips
Instagram is rolling out the ability for users to upload longer uninterrupted Stories, the social network confirmed to TechCrunch on Friday. Now, when you post a Story that’s under 60 seconds in length, it won’t be broken up into segments. The company began testing the change with select users late last year, and has now … Read more
How a pivot helped HopSkipDrive emerge successful in a sector where many failed
Joanna McFarland got the idea for HopSkipDrive in 2014 because she needed a solution to a problem that many working parents like herself face: How do you consistently get your kids where they need to be on time? The idea was sparked at a birthday party she attended with one of her children. The topic … Read more
Byju’s clears $230 million payment to Blackstone for $1 billion Aakash deal
Byju’s has cleared all its dues to Blackstone by paying $234 million it owed the global investment giant for the $1 billion acquisition of Aakash, a source familiar with the matter told TechCrunch, addressing one of the criticisms levelled against the Indian edtech giant in recent months. The Bengaluru-headquartered startup, valued at $22 billion, had … Read more
It sure looks like we’re getting new MacBook Pros in October
You have to admit these guys were getting old. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Apple plans to release new MacBook models in the fourth quarter of this year, according to a new report from DigiTimes. DigiTimes also reported last week that suppliers are “gearing up” for shipments of the upcoming products. … Read more
How Blaseball’s fantasy sports fever dream is embracing the future
A star pitcher is resurrected from the Hall of Flame. A Hellmouth swallows the state of Utah. Crows descend on Tastykake Stadium, pecking slugger Jessica Telephone out of a peanut shell. This is Blaseball, the absurdist baseball simulator that captured the most delightfully wacky corners of the internet when it launched in summer 2020. Developed … Read more
Leak suggests the Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro are keeping their great prices
We already know what they look like, but we don’t know for sure how much the Pixel 7 and 7 Pro will cost. | Image: Google It feels like it shouldn’t be news when the price of something doesn’t go up, but that’s where we are in the year 2022. We’re paying roughly a thousand … Read more
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T-Mobile adds domestic United flights to its free in-flight Wi-Fi roster
T-Mobile continues adding perks to its Magenta and Magenta Max plans. | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge T-Mobile is broadening its free in-flight Wi-Fi promotion by adding domestic United Airlines flights to the offer. Subscribers to T-Mobile’s Magenta Max and Magenta post-paid plans have already had access to a similar deal on Alaska … Read more